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REGENT Raises $101million (US$60M) Series A to Define New Era of Coastal Sustainable Transportation. Funding confirms human crewed testing in 2024.
We are excited to share that REGENT (Rhode Island, USA), the world’s first all-electric seaglider manufacturer, announced today it has raised NZ$101 million (US$60 million) in their Series A funding round.
The round was co-led by Founders Fund – Peter Thiel, 8090 Industries - Kerem Ozmen, Point72 Ventures - Steve Cohen and with participation from Japan Airlines Innovation Fund. This brings the company's total funding to date to $151million (US$90 million).
“Today marks a significant milestone for REGENT with the new funding fully capitalising REGENT's full-scale prototype build and test program, with human-crewed flights to start in 2024. This keeps the company on track to certify, manufacture, and deliver its seagliders to us starting mid-decade,” said Shah Aslam, CEO Ocean Flyer.
"There are extraordinarily few companies today with battery powered vehicles that can fly human crew, and REGENT is about to join those ranks," said Billy Thalheimer, co-founder and CEO of REGENT.
“As a customer, I believed in the co-founders Billy and Mike’s vision, when we signed the 25 seaglider $700million contract in early 2022. Today, we are one step closer to bringing a sustainable, fully electric, fast, affordable and comfortable new mode of mass public transport for all of Aotearoa New Zealand,” said Aslam.
“We applaud the wider REGENT family of staff, investors, suppliers and other key stakeholders who share in our vision of revolutionising coastal travel. We are beyond excited, what opportunities of connectivity the seagliders will open for communities around Aotearoa New Zealand”, said Aslam.
The round includes previously announced strategic investments by Japan Airlines Innovation Fund, Lockheed Martin, and Yamato Holdings, and is joined by Point72 Ventures, Caffeinated Capital, Mark Cuban, UAE's Strategic Development Fund, Future Planet Capital and others.
We’re incredibly proud of what the team at REGENT have achieved with this round of funding, especially during the current economic climate. Well done REGENT and bring on human seaglider testing!
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ABOUT REGENT
REGENT is pioneering the future of sustainable maritime mobility. REGENT builds seagliders, a new category of electric vehicle that operates exclusively over the water that will drastically reduce the time and cost of moving people and goods between coastal cities. Seagliders will service routes up to 290kms with existing battery technology and up to 800kms with next-generation batteries, via existing dock infrastructure. REGENT has an order book of more than $12billion. For more information, visit regentcraft.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
ABOUT OCEAN FLYER
Ocean Flyer signed a historic $700m agreement in April 2022 with REGENT to bring 25 seagliders to New Zealand. Ocean Flyer is the first seaglider-only company setup in the world to bring sustainable, fully electric, fast, affordable and comfortable new mode for mass public transport.
Ocean Flyer is committed to connecting communities across the motu, tackling climate change, and building a more resilient and affordable transport network for everyone.
For more information, visit oceanflyer.co.nz and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.